Organizer of the Beit El Din Festival, Nour Janbalat, was able to successfully reach an agreement worth 800,000 US dollars with Lebanese-Colombian pop/rock singer Shakira Mebarak to hold a concert in Lebanon. The date of the concert has not yet been decided but will be during the Festival.

According to the Bahrain based daily, Al Ayaam, cutting the deal with Shakira was a great achievement for Nour, who feels honored to bring the singer to her country and introduce her to her people.

Shakira had previously announced on live TV that she will go on a Middle East tour and has signed a contract to hold three concerts in Egypt at the Light and Sound Theater. The singer has recently sent a crew of song specialists to study the taste of the Egyptian population so as to know what type of songs to perform.

Shakira has also announced that she will be visiting her home country Lebanon this April to perform two concerts. Shakira had stressed her desire to hold different performances in Lebanon and a contract has been signed with sponsors to hold the concerts in Beirut.

Multicultural Shakira is one of a growing number of Latin American singers making a splash on the US pop charts. Her latest album, "Laundry Service," has sales approaching 10 million albums worldwide. Her music combines rock, pop, Latin and Arabic sounds. Shakira also plays guitar and writes most of her songs, which allows her to control its content and style, something she is very keen on. – Albawaba.com